


My Best Friend is Dead

by prodigious_ink_slinger



Series: My Best Friend is Dead [1]
Category: My Best Friend is Dead Au, Original Work
Genre: Original work - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-03-02
Updated: 2015-03-06
Packaged: 2018-03-15 22:47:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,966
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3464894
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/prodigious_ink_slinger/pseuds/prodigious_ink_slinger
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>School was hell, my social life was non-existent practically and I was bored with life...until I found a pentacle necklace on a slightly dirty ribbon. Then I met her, and she helped me take life in a whole new direction.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. It's cold outside

My Best Friend is Dead

I never really talked to anyone. I rarely ever interacted with others past my family. Life was lonely and more than a little hellish. When I turned 15, I entered high school and I figured life was going to get better. For once the fates decided that they'd had their fun and finally smiled upon my gray ass life. 

_______________ Chapter 1: It's cold outside 

Texas was known for its wide variety of confusing weather patterns and bright sunny days, this however, was not a sunny day. The weather was the contrary to expected conditions, it was pouring rain and a mildly cold temperature. I sat at the bottom of the stairs to my second floor apartment complex, I enjoyed the rain from the smell to the sound. No one is outside, nary a car passes by on the road on the other side of the chain link fence. The weather creates puddles in potholes and lakes in sidewalk dips. The curb and gutters look like rivers that turn into waterfalls as they cascade into the dark depths of the sewer system. I had my eyes closed, simply breathing, existing, minding my own business. 

"Hey!" A voice shouts straight into my face. It startles me and my eyes open instantly. Before me stands a tall red haired girl, her stockings are bright pink and white, there are stains of brown dried blood. She's staring at me, she looks dare I say...hopeful? 

"Uh..." I respond intelligently. 

"Can you hear or see me?" She asks leaning in even closer. Okay lady, get out of my space, you are making me uncomfortable. 

"Yeah....so?" I reply eyeing her suspiciously. 

"Really?! That's great! Finally! Man you have no idea how many people I have screamed at today! I can't believe someone is finally seeing me!" She claps her hands together and looks positively delighted. 

"Why wouldn't I? You look pretty solid to me. " I ask despite wanting to get away from this loud girl who just screamed at me. 

She turns to look at me, her hands go up and she shrugs her shoulders. "Well, funny you should ask, but the reason is ask is well...I'm dead. " 

"You're dead. " 

"Uh yeah...that's literally what I just said. " 

"Yeah and I'm the Obama. " 

"DUDE. I'm serious, please just talk to me! I've been looking all over for somebody to see me!" Shes giving me this kicked puppy look, like I just personally told her that her mom is dead. 

"Oh no, you could be some crazy murderer. " I stand up and she scrambles up the stairs and blocks my path. "Come on man, move over. " 

She starts pouting, she looks a good three years older than I am and she...she's pouting. "Oh come on, please? Si vous plait?" She switches to French like it's going to help her. She looks pretty drab if I'm being completely honest here, she could kill me, rob my corpse like I do in video games and run off. She is still staring at me, shit, okay, okay I'll relent. 

"Ugh, fine. " I sit down on the steps again and she sits in the step next to me. It feels a good 20 degrees colder than before but I'll chalk that up to the weather shifting. She turns to me and eyes the pentacle necklace, subconsciously I start to fiddle with it. Not everyone at school actually knew the difference between a pentagram and a pentacle, so they usually called me names that were less than savory. Things from "devil worshiper" to "hell spawn." I mean really, where do people even get their insults these days? 

"That's some necklace you got there, where'd you get it?" She puts her cheek in her hand and smiles at me. Her teeth have a slight gap between them and her two front teeth are bigger than the rest. Her lip curls over her teeth, does she not like her teeth? 

I twirl the star pendent between my fingers, truthfully, I'd only recently found the thing. "Well, I found it. I thought it was cool and stuff..." I wasn't sure what kind of answer she wanted. 

"It's pretty cool, did you know that if you believe in it, it'll protect you from bad spirits?" The girl gives me a closed lip smile and her fingers curl up into her palms.

"No, I didn't, too bad it doesn't protect from shitty humans. " I reply looking forwards and I put my own tan face in my hands. 

"Nah that's what knives are for. " she laughs as though she's made some kind of clever joke. I give her a polite chuckle and this seems to encourage her. "That's also what headphones are for, block out their shitty words with totally awesome music!" 

Okay that was funny, I laugh and find myself smiling slightly. "Yeah, nothing like blasting my ear drums to the Stone Age with heavy metal. " 

"Ugh, that stuff hurts my ears, I like good old 80's Rock, maybe some 70's thrown in the mix. There's a thing that I wish I could have brought back into style, mixtapes. Like, sing me to sleep like 10 times on a tape. Why don't they do that? That was the number one way to get a gal, make her a mixtape and she'd be all, 'oh tommy, ya made me a mixtape of my fav song! Let's get married!' and it'd be super cute and mushy. " Her leg is shaking, from what I don't know, all I know is that the vibration is mildly annoying me. It occurs to me that I don't know her name, should I ask? No, she'll tell me eventually. It occurs to me that there's no logical reason for her to be talking to me. She's full of energy and I'm so, so, so so...not full of any energy. Her presence is strong, her energy is enormous, yet casts no definitive aura. 

"It's not for everybody, my dad and brother used to listen to it all the time. I grew up with it, my little sister likes it a little less than I do. " I shrug and fiddle with my phone, the cartoon case with its forest scene looking back at me. Usually my awkwardness and silence made others uneasy, yet here she was, unfazed. 

"I'm more of a peppy pop person with some country from the early 2000's thrown in. I used to only listen to country when I was little kid, I'd throw all kinds of hell if you changed it from Keith Urban to Metallica or something. Then I finally gave everything a chance, except Jazz, fuck jazz. " she makes a disgusted face at the word 'jazz' as though it had done her a personal wrong by existing. 

"You just not like much classical then either?" 

"Oh no, I absolutely adore classical music! It's so peaceful and relaxing, unless it's something composed by Bach or Mozart, then the pace picks up and I'm all 'lets burn down Kentucky!' and stuff!" She laughs and her legs stop shaking, she leans back and looks up at the boring cement ceiling. "I tried to learn guitar but eh, I'm tone deaf. My uncle tried to tune it and all I could think was 'it all sounds the same to me, why is he cringing so much?' and like, I just kinda gave up y'know?"

I had no idea how to respond so I just shrugged again, gosh, I am just so articulative today. 'Say something interesting, this is first person to willingly talk to you in ages!' a voice urges me in my head. "Yeah, I play the viola. " 

"Sounds cool, maybe I'll listen in sometime. " she hums to herself and lays back on the steps looking peaceful. 

"CHAAARRRRR!!!!" My mothers voice calls from upstairs. 

"COMING. " I shout and I pull myself to my feet. I dust off my jeans. 

"Guess I'll see you around then kid. " I hear her say and I turn to tell her bye but I don't see her. The step where she had been laying on was empty, the place where she'd been was cold. My mothers voice yet again brings me to my feet and I go upstairs. 

"Who were you talking to?" My mom asks me as I walk past her through the doorway as I kick off my black converse. 

"Some girl, she talked more than I did to be honest." I replied with a shrug of my shoulders to get my jacket off. It's sleeves are tattered and frayed, it's once dark black now held a slight grey hue to it. 

"What's her name?" Mom asks, oh my god nosy mom. 

"I don't know, I forgot to ask. " I admit. 

"How do you forget to ask some one name you were outside talking to for an hour?" She asks me grinning. 

"I don't know! Wow, an hour? Seriously?" I blink and continue to my room I share with my little sister. 

"I didn't call you in here just so you could go back to your room, do the dishes and eat lunch. I made stew and fairy toast. " 

"Mom that's a tortilla. " 

"Don't get smart with me. Do your damn chores and eat. " her voice raises slightly and she goes to my little brothers room to wake him or yell at him. I don't care. The dishes are piled high in the murky water and a part of me wonders if this is sanitary. Should I wear gloves? Nah, that'd be a waste of gloves, still gross though....

_________________


	2. I have a purple pen?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I met her again on the bus...

I met her again on the bus  
By: prodigious_ink_slinger

 

___________________________

Everyday I take a bus to the Career Center where I learn all about the fancy graphics and ways to animate ideas into full blown creations. I didn't know anyone at the bus stop, my friends waited with me until 8:10, they all had their own classes to run off to. I really appreciated their presence but it was a short lived company everyday and it created a small void. I leaned against the run down red brick of the school outside and waited for our bus to get here and take me closer to something not boring as fuck. The scientist by Coldplay plays in my ears, although my headphones I'd found in my bag one day made it seem like the words were directly in my mind. Like the instruments and the melodies combined into a smooth flowing sound that melded into my mind like smooth cream into a drink. Which made me think of coffee and my distinct lack thereof which was bullshit because I love coffee. Not overly sweet or straight up black because that's gross, I like two or three sugars in my french vanilla thank you very much. The hairs on the back of my neck stand up and I turn to see the girl from yesterday standing next to me. She's grinning big and wide, she appears to be talking. Guess I should do the polite thing and take out my music, which I'd really rather not do. 

"Hey stranger!" Her grin goes back to a small lipped one, her teeth no longer visible. 

"You're the stranger, am I in danger?" 

"HA! That rhymed! Did you notice? Of course you did, you clever devil you! Are you waiting on the bus?" She asks me. 

"Yeah, are you waiting or are you stalking me?" I asked, I really hoped she wasn't some psycho stalker. That'd be really shitty and I don't know how to handle something like that. 

"EW no, that's creepy. I had a stalker in middle school, he was really bad at it though, got me whatever I wanted. I bet if I'd told him to jump off a cliff because it'd make me laugh he'd do it. Boys are so dumb. I'm waiting on the bus too, going to my graphics class. Ohhh want to sit together?" She rambles on and on and wow, how the hell can anyone talk so casually about being stalked? Wait shit, she asked me a question. Answer you idiot. 

"Sure, I don't see why not." With a shrug of my shoulders and small smile I stand up properly so that she doesn't have to keep leaning back so unsuccessfully so often. 

"Awesome! Did you eat breakfast this morning?" She randomly asks, she's ruffling through a tiny purple, teal, yellow and black kindergartener size bag I didn't notice before. 

"Uh no, I didn't. " Which was only half a lie because I'm sure four dinosaur chicken nuggets at 6:30 do not count as breakfast nor do they stick around in one's stomach. 

"Good, because boy do I have a great thing for you!" She pulls out a banquet pot pie. 

"What the fuck. " is literally the only thing that comes out of my mouth. What the actual fuck. Who just carries fucking pippin' hot pies in their backpacks? What the fuck????

"It's a biscuit and sausage gravy pot pie, I also brought you a juice box because the crusts tend to leave a flour taste and it's not bad, just a little strange. " she puts the hot pie box, a neon orange plastic spoon that seems like it's glowing and a strawberry Hi-C juice box in my hands. She holds my binder and, what the fuck, when did she get that. WHAT IS THIS GIRL. 

"Thank you?" My voice cracks on the the 'you' because this is so weird. This girl is so weird. This pie smells fantastic. 

"You're welcome! You'll like it, it sounds super weird but it's yummy. I also love juice boxes, my mom was like 'you're too old for those' and I'm like, 'SCUSE YOU. RUDE.' And like, yeah, go juice boxes. " she imitates her mom with her hands on her hips and she pitches her already pretty high pitched voice even higher. I laugh and she smiles at me.

God, doesn't her face hurt from smiling so much? 

"Ohhh the yellow death machine has arrived. " She says trying her best at a scary narrator voice. It sucked but it was funny because it sucked so much. 

"Death machine? Yeah, more like yellow eyesore, my eyes are burning get me some sunglasses. " I add as I sit in the 7th seat. I stuff my giant fucking bag in the space between the floor and the seats. Girl I still don't know the name of still is standing there, she's shuffling her feet awkwardly. The hurriedly sits down next to me and she apologizes to the kids who pass by and they don't even acknowledge her. 

"You should try a smaller backpack, looked like you were wrestling a bear. " she jabs a thumb to my fraying blue backpack. 

"What do you even carry?" I ask her as I take the hot pie from its box. She takes it from me and punches a ring around the pastry. The crust is now separate from the filling and she hands it back to me. I take a bite, I didn't expect this. Oh no it's delicious. I make a hum of appreciation to the taste and offer some to her. She waves me off and sticks the straw in the hole and hands it to me. What am I five? 

"Don't mind me and my mother hen tendencies, I'm surprised I managed to get the straw in. I usually need assistance. " she laughs and looks at the bus driver, who still hasn't fucking moved the bus. "Looks like crazy lady is waiting on homeboy with the leg in aisle to move his leg. " 

"Wow, what's even the issue? Like who can't ignore a leg?" 

"Rule abiders." She quips with a smirk. 

"Yes, those damn rule followers! Ruining the rule breakers fun!" I add sticking a piece of crust in my mouth and chewing. 

"Haha, you look like a chipmunk. A cute chipmunk. " 

"Are you hitting on me?" 

"No, that's ridiculous. THIS IS HITTING YOU. " She lightly swats my arm repeatedly, it doesn't even hurt. In fact, I don't even feel anything but a deep bone deep coldness where her hands connected with my arm. "Besides, it's rude to hit on people when you clearly aren't seeking to get some dick. " She remarks crudely with smug expression. 

"Wow, get some dick. Are you hunting for some dick?" I ask grinning with my face all creepy like the grinch when he was like, 'let's ruin christmas because I'm an asshole to everyone.' 

"No, asexual actually. Had the dick, didn't like the dick. Had the vagina, didn't like the vagina. I'm pretty ace yo. " she bounces her legs up and down, the seat shakes. Or is that the bus driver finally taking off down the road? 

"That's nice. " I reply, wow, what a great response. That probably took a lot of courage to say and I said 'nice.' Like, "thanks grandma, I love this sweater" but really on the inside all you can think is "this is a very ugly sweater." 

"Yeah....so, what's your shirt about? I don't get it?" She attempts small talk. 

"Oh, it's the achievement hunter channel symbol. "

"Who's that?" 

"Are you serious?" I deadpan. 

"No I'm Pippa. " she replies with a straight face like last for not even a whole millisecond before she's laughing so hard at her shitty harry potter reference that she snorts. Fucking snorts. That's adorable. She's covering her mouth as she laughs. It's really scary for a few seconds because it sounds like she's crying, which I know she's not because she's grinning. Her laugh is loud, punctuated with gaps for air that are high pitched breathy gasps that kinda sound like she's being stabbed repeatedly. "Oh man, I'm sorry, that was hilarious. I'm so funny. Gosh why was I blessed with such humor? " 

"You're a nerd. " 

"And you're a video game junkie. " 

"Rude. " 

"Your face is rude. " 

"No your face is rude. " 

"Eat your damn pie woman. " She huffs at me throwing her hands in the air. 

"I do what I want!" I say and stuff a mouthful of it in my face and wow, hot, burning, don't let her know that hurt. Don't let her know you just burned your poor tongue. 

"You burnt yourself. " 

I shake my head from side to side vigorously. You don't know me, I don't even know you. She pushes the juice towards me with a smirk, I glare at her and she laughs, quieter this time. I suck down the juice and relief floods my senses and my face. "Thank you." I say eventually and stuff the now empty pie tin into the box with the empty juice box into the banquet pie box. She takes the box and stuffs it into her tiny bag. 

"No problem, don't worry about the trash. Now you're fed. " she nods her head as though I've asked a question or quite honestly in the fashion of someone agreeing blindly to someone rapid firing questions. 

"Thanks. Looks like we're here. " I say standing up. She shuffles to the opposite seat and let's me go first, then all of the other kids file off the bus and she follows last. The driver pulls off to park and she follows me into the building. 

"Where's your class?" She ask as we ascend the stairs. 

"Right here, the like, third door. " I point to it and she hands me my binder, I completely forgot she'd been holding it this whole time. "Thanks. " 

"Oh, it's right next to my class, cool. " she comments and I look into my class and some girls push me slightly as they go past. She glares at them and makes a childish face. 

"Rude. " she says with disdain. 

"Yeah, I'm used to it. " 

"You shouldn't be. " 

"Yeah, well, shit happens. " I casually add, like it doesn't bother me. It doesn't, I tell myself, it really doesn't. 

"They won't do it again. " She says with a grin that promises pain. 

"Oh my god chill. " I laugh and she just grins at me. A bell rings and I look up and when I look back at her again she's gone. Man those are some seriously silent footsteps, maybe she's a ninja. The image of my elder sisters naruto posters pop into my brain as I choose a computer to sit at. My teacher instructs us to pull out a piece of paper to take notes or something. 

There is something written on the very first sheet of clean paper is written in a kind of pretty half cursive, half printed handwriting in purple pen I didn't even know I owned. 

"You can call me Pippa, my name sucks tbh. >;) " 

___________________

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Haha, now you know her name...


	3. Shitty montage music

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Charlotte comes to terms with Pippas life status....

Becoming Friends  
By: prodigious_ink_slinger

 

If there could be a musical track to my life after meeting "Pippa" it would be comical instrumentals seen in cartoon montages. She was everywhere, I'd look up from my textbook and see through the window a smiling face. She'd wave and I'd subtly wave back slightly. She was there every morning with the pie, the pie and juice box became a normal breakfast for me. I had declined the offer a few times over the course of two weeks and she had looked really sad. Pippa would stuff it into her bag again, shrug, and then share the juice with me. I didn't really get her just yet, she was bouncy one second then overflowing with witty advice. She liked a lot of the animes I did, read some shitty mangas and told me how she could sing the entire Cardcaptor Sakura theme song in Japanese.

I called her a nerd, she laughed and said, "No no no, I am a fucking King Nerd. Get it right dork." 

I learned a lot about her family, her shitty dad, her equally shitty stepfather who is now her moms ex and her comical family. So to be fair, I told her stories about my family. From my mother and her scary ghosts to thug life Sophia. Pippa seemed to find a good portion of them funny, some she furrowed her brow in concern. I also learned that day that Pippa was not sure that moms were actually allowed to throw you in a fountain and laugh at you. The bus ride was something I liked, something constant, a factor in the equation of life that didn't change. Every morning Pippa stuck around longer and longer, she even came into my classroom a few times. I didn't notice the stares of confusion that I got when I animatedly showed off my dancing Obama gif. I really just thought they were confused as to why there was an older kid NOT in our class present. 

It would take me a solid month before I realized anything fishy. 

______

The bus ride is devoid of Pippa today, I don't see her. A small part of me is actually sad about her absence, but it's short lived because as I walk through the front office I see her waving at me. She's jumping up and down, waving frantically at me. 

"HEY. HEY. KAT. HEEEYYY. " Pippa calls out to me. She got on a black high waisted shirt with a ruffled collared shirt, a black tie around her neck. The cat stockings have cute faces on them and her boots are bright purple. 

"Hi. " I say as I fall in step with her. 

"Man, you took forever to come home today. I was so bored. " She complains with an exaggerated sigh of annoyance. 

"Sorry, school is pretty time consuming. " 

"I'd rather be consuming your time. Dumb school, going to have a dumb anime boy battle with it. Swear." 

"Sounds dangerous. " 

"Like my life. " 

"What's so dangerous about your life." 

"My lack of! Ha! Get it?" She claps her hands and double pistols and winks at me. 

I shake my head at her and roll my eyes. Honestly, how many times can she insist that she's dead? It's getting a bit old, the joke was never funny to begin with. "You're so weird. " 

"Maybe one day you'll get it. " She sighs and laces her fingers with mine and swings my arm back and forth. Normally this would be something I'd immediately discontinue, like no, don't touch me. The thing is, it doesn't bother me. Whether from fear of her reaction if I let go or maybe the idea that maybe human contact was a little less repulsive nowadays, I knew that something was off. 

They say humans can detect an abnormal presence or something off about someone from a simple touch. Like, just being around something or someone for a few minutes can send warning bells off in your head. From a shifty eyed man to a girl with a twitch in her eyes, a person who shakes their leg too much in un-stressful environments. Her comments about her being dead always made me a little creeped, the touch of her skin to mine was some Twilight "you're cold as fuck Edward" type shit. Pippa had a low body temperature, that's all it was. God, what was I even worried about? I had a history of sensing spirits, seeing them, talking to them, being bugged by them. I'd know if she wasn't living wouldn't I?

"HELLLLOOOOO? EARTH TO KAT. WAKEY WAKEY, EGGS AND BACON. " Pippa is waving her hands back and forth in front of my face. I've been standing in front of my apartment door this whole time. Pippa has probably been trying to talk to me this whole time. Wow, I'm a great friend. A+ brain, make me look a passive asshole. 

"Huh? Oh uh, yeah, okay. " I respond quickly, I don't know what I just agreed to. I have no idea. Holy shit, what if I just agreed to sell her my organs. Shit. 

"Oh good, now I can get into your house whenever I want!" She winks at me and I look down to put the key in the lock. 

I look back up to ask her what she meant by that, but of course, she's gone already. Seriously, what the actual fuck, does she live in the apartment across from me? She's teaching me how the fuck she disappears so fast, seriously, that shit isn't even fair. Shrugging off my jacket and putting it over my arm I walk to my room. The door is open, which is weird because Sophia shouldn't even be home yet. I walk through the door and sit down on my bed. The room is cold, it's always cold but this feels different. Searching around the room for any of the faces I came to know as a child, I see none. Just my endless sea of stuffed animals. A giggle echoes through the room, I check my window to see if it open. Mom always opens it to circulate air, it is closed and locked shut. Taking the search a step further, I peer out the window and I don't see a soul. It's female for sure, I become increasingly uneasy. This is the kind of shit white girls do in scary movies, they investigate the noise AND FUCKING DIE. The door to the bathroom opens, the closet door is open, the bedroom door opens slowly. Oh shit shit shit shit shit shit ohhhh shit I'm going to die. This is literally how I die. This is bullshit. Then the bedroom door slams open fully and suddenly there's air rushing through the room as though a tornado has chosen my fucking room to live. 

I close my eyes at the burst of wind and when I open them there's Pippa. She's got her hands on her hips and she grins at me, "Know what I just realized? I can get into your house whenever I want!" 

"What in the fuck are you doing in here? " I question actually kinda pissed off. 

"To visit you! Wasn't my entrance grand? Honestly, it took me weeks to plan. "

"That was you?" I deadpan. 

"Do you get it yet?" 

"Get what?" 

"That I'm dead. " 

"Bullshit. " 

"Seriously, I make shit fly everywhere, burst through your door, come in through a locked front door and I'm still not dead. " she actually looks madder than I am. Anger was not an emotion I fully understood how to handle, much less from others. 

"Wires or you're a great lock picker with a stupid amount of fans???" No fucking way she's a ghost, no fucking way. Ghosts don't change clothes everyday, they don't watch anime, they don't draw. She's fucking with me. 

"What do you want me to do? Make you float light as feather stiff as fucking board?" She throws her hands up in the air in exasperation. 

"Sure. " 

"What?" 

"Sure. Do it. " I challenge. There's no way, I'll prove my theory once and for all. 

"Fine. Try not cry or anything. " She picks me up and slowly lifts up off the ground. Holy fuck. Then she lets go and floats next to me, her arms crossed. "See? Shit just got anime real fucker. " 

"Holy shit. " 

"I'm awesome right? Haha admit you were wrong. Come onnnnn! You know want to!" She taunts. 

All I know and all I've been taught has just been ripped out from under me. Literally. 

"Are you going to say something or am I going to have to drop you like a sack of potatoes?" She asks poking my nose repeatedly. I scrunch up my face and sneeze. "Wow, cute. " The ground gets closer and closer and all too soon the ground makes contact with my feet. 

"You're a ghost. " Is all I can say. 

Pippa starts to bang her head against a wall repeatedly while I sit in my bed totally floored. 

_______________

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HAHAHAHA NERD. 
> 
> For Char, 
> 
> Welcome to hell.

**Author's Note:**

> I won't be using last names or at least not real ones. I changed my own name for the time being as it is not important yet. 
> 
> ___________
> 
> For the original Charlotte, there will be more soon you little rascal.


End file.
